I lean in favor of rebirth, but via naturalistic processes rather than projections of our own moral wants. I don’t need a supernatural explanation to recognize that whatever is most irreducibly “me” was born at least once. Why would I assume it would only be once?
If we follow from that premise, we can also chart a kind of probabilistic, umm, not karma but something not far off: If we’re reborn after death, how do we determine what kind of life our next one is going to be? Pretty obvious actually, just look at what kind of life everyone has already. If, for example, only 1% of humans have an especially good life, it looks like there’s a a really slim chance any one of us is going to be the one who gets to have that kind of life.
By contrast, 99% of humans are living in increasingly bad conditions, lower wages, higher prices and virtually every economic card stacked against us, as well as *gestures broadly*. It’s remarkably more likely that anyone would be reborn as a 99 percenter.
But why should we assume that we would only ever be reborn as a human? The total human population right now is 8.2 billion. There are estimated to be about 20 quadrillion ants in the world. And more than 44 billion animals have been bred into existence and slaughtered for food this year alone. Are you more likely to be reborn a human, an ant, or someone else’s property?
There’s a consequence here if rebirth is the law of the land. It would mean that death is not an escape after all. The only way to give yourself your best chance of a better next life would be to put in effort to make the world better for everyone. There is no way out, only through.
I’m betting on just not existing anymore when we die.
No secrets. No magic kingdoms. We’ve already not existed before, I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t just go back to that after.
Spending eternity going to church would be my own special form of hell.
100% agree. You mean I’m gonna have to listen to Brother Lampard ramble on about his experience living in Guatemala for the rest of eternity? I’ll be searching out the fire and brimstone out before the end of the first week.
There is no afterlife.
So don’t waste your precious time sitting in a pew feeling bad about yourself.
Very relevant username.
People assume the universe has secrets. People assume the secrets are worth knowing. People assume the secrets can be understood without an advanced education in cosmology.
I mean, according to Revelation the faithful spend literally every moment on their knees locked in prayer venerating their god, so…
And call it heaven. Any type of eternity where there isn’t some opt-out clause is hell, even if it starts off great. One where your single job is to unendingly flatter the guy in the Bible? That’s hell from the start.
No mysteries left to ponder, just unending obligatory supplication. What bliss!
“I’d rather kill myself than go to heaven.” - Wm Murderface
